GENETIC THERAPY, PERSON-REGARDING REASONS AND THE DETERMINATION OF IDENTITY

It has been argued, for example by Ingmar Persson, that genetic therap y performed on a conceptus does not alter the identity of the person t hat develops from it, even if we are essentially persons. If this clai m is true then there can be person-regarding reasons for performing ge netic therapy on a conceptus. Here it is argued that such person-regar ding reasons obtain only if we are not essentially persons but essenti ally animals. This conclusion requires the defeat of the origination t heory, which says that personal identity is determined by the identity of the foetus from which one originates. It is argued that the origin ation theory is false in the special case relevant to performing genet ic therapy on a conceptus for person-regarding reasons.